Automatic valve control



- T. CURRAN.

AUTOMATIC VALVE CONTROL} APPLICATION FILED NOV-13,1919. I 1,387,130. v Patented Aug. 9,1921.

2 SHEETSSHEET L INVENTOR T Curran ATTORNEY T. GURRAN.

AUTOMATIC VALVE CONTROL.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. I3, 1919.

1 7, 1 Patented Aug. 9, 1921',

. 2 $flEET$$HEEt 2.

I.I I

INVENTOR ATTORNEY of Chillicothe, in the county of Peoria and State of Illinois, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Automatic Valve Control, of which the following is a full,

clear, and exact description.

My invention relatesto improvements in automatic valve control mechanisms, and it consists in the combinations, constructions and arrangements herein described and claimed.

An object of myinvention is to provide a device by means of which a valve, such as that leading from a sludge treating tank, may be operated automatically and periodically without any attention, for the draining of the treating tank.

A further object of my invention is to provide a device of thetype described, which is operated by hydraulic means, thereby insuring the positive opening and'closing of the valve. i v

A further object of my invention is to provide an automatic valve controlling mechanism, which; may be easily regulated to open or close the, valveiat any predetermined time. g 5

- Other objects. and advantages Wlll appear in the'followi'ng specification, and the novel features of the invention will be particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

My invention is illustrated in-the accompanying drawings, forming part of this application, in which Figure 1 is aside view of the valve-operating mechanism, showing the position when the valve is open, I

Fig. 2 is a similar view showing the position when the valve is opened, and

Fig. 3 is a detail view of a drain valve.

The invention may be applied for the purpose of controlling valves used in any industry where an automatic control is desirable. In the drawings I have shown a treating tank 1, such as that employed for softening water, which is to be used by locomotives or boilers of steam engines. The main purpose of the present invention is to provide a device for automatically opening a valve to draw off the sludge from the treating tank. To this end, an outlet pipe 2 is connected with the tank 1 and is provided with agatevalve 3, having an outlet 4 leading to any suitable place for depositing the sludge.

rnoivms oonnan, or onrnnioorrrn, ILLINOIS.

v "AUTOMATIC VALVE conrnon.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patgnted Aug, 9, 1921, Application filed November 13, 1919. Serial No. 337,881. I

Mounted above the gate-valve is a cylinder 5, this cylinder being supported in any suitable manner, as by uprights 6. WVithin the cylinder is a piston 7 whose stem 8 is connected with the gate-valve. A feed pipe 9 communicates witha three-way valve 10 at one end- The outlet pipe 12 has a branch 13 communicating with the three-way valve 10.

Disposed above the cylinder 5 is a lever 15, which is fulcrumed at 16. One end of the lever is provided with a weight-17. A. pivoted arm 18 connects with an arm 19 for operating the three-way valve 10, and also with an arm 20 for operating the three-way valve 11. 7 o

, $1112]. I have shown a bucket which is open at its top and which is suspended from the end of the lever 15 by means of a link 22.

The bucket is designed to be moved vertically in guides 23. The lower end of the bucket has an outlet pipe 24, provided with a valve 25' at the lower end. At 26 I have shown a stationary post or pin which is ar-- ranged to engage the valvewhen the bucket moves downwardly. A valve 27 is provided for regulating the flow of water fromthe bucket.

In order to provide ment of the bucket downwardly or upwardly, I provide a spring-pressed engaging memberv 28, having a recess arranged to receive triangularshapedlugs 29 carried bythe bucket.

From the foregoing description of the various parts of the device, the operation therefor a sudden moveof may be readily understood. Thejcontrol valve 30 in the feed pipe 9 is opened so as to perinit a flow of water under. pressure from any suitable source to the cylinder 5.

In Fig. 2 the three-Way valve 10 is turned so;

by turning the valve to the proper position- The water is allowed to drip or flow into the bucket continuously. Now when the latter has been filled to a predetermined height, the weight of the water will overbalance the weights 17, and also the resistance caused by the spring-pressed member 28, and the bucket will suddenly move downwardly. The downward movement of the bucket will cause the arms 19 and 20 to swing upwardly, cutting of? the flow of water from the feed pipe 9 to the upper part of the cylinder and establishing communication between the pipe 9 and the lower part of the cylinder. At the same time, the overflow pipe 12 will have communication established through the pipe 13 and the three-way valve 10, the pipe 14 being closed by the valve 11. The plunger will now be moved upwardly, thereby opening the gate valve. When the check valve 25 engages the pin 26, the latter will open the valve and permit the water in the bucket 21 to run out. The time which it takes this water to run out may be regulated by means of the valve 27. Swing to the fact that the lug 29 is held by the springpressed engaging member 28, the bucket is held from moving upwardly until enough water has run out, so that the weight 17 overbalances the bucket, whereupon the latter will be suddenly moved upwardly, thus causing the shifting of the three-way valves 10 and 11, and the reversal of the movement of the piston so as to close the valves.

Since the cylinder 5 is fed by water under pressure, the gate-valve is positively moved, both to close the valve and also to open it.

lVhile T have shown the water supplied to the bucket 21 as being taken from an in- 7 dependent source, it is obvious that it might be taken from any source, such as that which supplies the cylinder 5.

The device is simple in construction, positive in action, and is not liable to easily get out of order.

I claim:

1. The combination of a discharge pipe, a control valve therefor, a cylinder, a piston in said cylinder connected with the control valve, a three-way valve at each end of the cylinder, an inlet and outlet pipe connected with said three-way valves, a weighted lever connected with said three-way valves, a movable bucket connected with said lever,

means for filling said bucket with liquid, and means for regulating the flow of the liquid into the bucket.

52. The combination of a discharge pipe, a control valve therefor, a cylinder, a piston in said cylinder connected with the control valve, a three-way valve at each end of the cylinder, an inlet and outlet pipe connected with said three-way valves, a weighted lever connected with said three-way valves, a movable bucket connected with said lever, means tor filling said bucket with liquid, means for regulating the flow of the liquid into the bucket, and spring means for resisting the movement of the bucket in either direction.

3. The combination of a discharge pipe, a

control valve therefor, a cylinder, a piston in said cylinder connected with the control valve, a three-way valve at each end of the cylinder, an inlet and outlet pipe connected with said three-way valves, a weighted lever connected with said three-way valves, a movable bucket connected with said lever, means for filling said bucket with liquid, means for regulating the flow of the liquid into the bucket, a valve for draining the contents of the bucket, spring means for resisting the movement of the bucket in either direction, and a stationary engaging member for open ing said last named valve.

a. The combination of a discharge. pipe, a control valve therefor, a cylinder, a piston in said cylinder connected with the control valve, a three-way valve at each end of the cylinder, an inlet and outlet pipe connected with said three-way valves, a weighted lever connected with said three-way valves, a movable bucket connected with said lever, means for filling said bucket with liquid, means for regulating the flow of the liquid into the bucket, spring means for resisting the movement of the bucket in either direction, a

valve for draining'the contents of the bucket, a stationary engaging member for opening said valve, and means for regulating thev flow of fluid through said valve.

THOMAS CURRAN. 

